MIAMI (WSVN) – Bam Adebayo was back in town over the weekend to host his annual back-to-school kids camp at SLAM Miami.
This is now Adebayo’s sixth camp with the kids, an important part of his commitment to continue to grow as a role model in the community.
“I mean, like I said, man, I’ve had a great leader in Udonis Haslem, shout out UD, you know, he showed me the way, he showed me how to love on the community, showed me how to give back and then to be able to do it in my own version,” said Adebayo.
He expanded on how camps like this can make an impact on the younger generation.
“Camps like this are important to me because I’m helping the younger generation and they’re our future, you never know what can happen, some of these kids in here might actually be pros, might not be basketball, but it might be football, it might be tennis, you never know,” he said. “So just being able to impact them and they have a chance to be around somebody who was a pro, you know, that goes a long way.”
And along with getting back to work within the community, Adebayo is ready to get back to work on the court after a Mediterranean tour over the summer and disappointing end to the season.
“I mean, I got to decompress a long time before that, we had a good month where, you know, I just kind of didn’t look at basketball and kind of gave myself a break from it, and it was great for me. I feel refreshed, I feel rejuvenated, you know, I got a bounce about myself again, so I’m excited for the new season.”
Adebayo also spoke about the Heat’s acquisition of Norman Powell in an off-season trade and what he will bring to the team.
“I mean, obviously to me, he’s very underrated. But what he brings, he brings an energy about himself. He brings that dog mentality that we like to have. And obviously, he brings scoring. So having Norman, he’s going to fit perfectly with us and I’m looking forward to it,” said Adebayo.
With the landscape of the eastern conference changing, Adebayo said his focus is only on how the Heat can keep playing winning basketball, not how other teams adjust to their off-season moves.
“I mean, we’re always going to look to win games. We’re always going to look to try to be the top of the east. You know, no matter what season it is, no matter what everybody’s looking at, you can’t look at everybody else. A lot of teams can look good on paper, but they might not pan out. You know, we’ve done some where we’ve been the eighth seed and went to the Finals, it’s unheard of. So like I said, you got to run your own race and we’re worried about us,” said Adebayo.
Despite the underwhelming end to the Heat’s season, Adebayo said he believes in Pat Riley’s vision to get back into contention.
“I got trust in Pat. Like I said, me and Pat have a lot of conversations and being able to talk to him, being able to understand where he’s coming from, like he’s one of those people, obviously he wants to see us win, but he does it his way,” said Adebayo.
Adebayo also said he’s looking to change narratives surrounding himself after having an underwhelming season.
“I think I had a down year last year. So, you know, it’s a lot of narratives that I want to change about myself. And it’s not to prove anybody wrong, it’s just to prove myself right,” said Adebayo.
Copyright 2025 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
